Early victories for the navy included the “Glorious first of June” in 1794, where Admiral Howe attacked warships and seized grain ships that were part of a convoy of food supplies from America for the French troops. In 1795 the expedition “Cape of Good Hope” secured trade routes to India. The battle of camper down in October 1797 also eased pressures on the Royal Navy after the mutinies at the Nore and Spithead, and ended Irish rebel hopes of getting any support from mainland Europe. The British navy was also in control of the English Channel. The next significant battle was that of the Nile at Aboukir bay in August 1798. Nearly all of the French fleet was destroyed and the French army was cut off from reinforcements which halted Napoleons progress and forced him to give up plans of an Eastern conquest. Future invasion plans may have succeeded for Napoleon if it hadn’t been for the British command of the seas. In 1803 Keith was in control of the North Sea, Cornwallis in the Channel and Nelson in the Mediterranean. The battle that really showed the extent of British naval power and the great leadership of Nelson was Trafalgar in 1805. French and Spanish ships were smashed by superior gunnery and firepower from the navy. Some 14,000 French and Spanish sailors were lost, ten times the British casualties. The British fleet also captured 19 out of the 33 French ships. Trafalgar renewed European confidence in Great Britain and led to the formation of the 3rd coalition. The navy therefore played a significant role as this battle set the seal on British sea power and ended any chance Napoleon had of invading Britain.
When one adds to these victories the many smaller ones, the frigate actions in distant waters, and the attacks upon such harbours as Copenhagen (1801 and 1807) and Aix Roads (1809), then it scarcely suprising that the Nelsonic period has been regarded as the high point of British naval history.
It is perhaps a tribute to the strength of the Britain’s Navy and economy, that Napoleon introduced the ambitious Continental System. Under the Berlin Decrees of 1806, all ports under French control were to reject British trade. Although initially British exports fell by 25%, the dominance of the Royal Navy meant that the blockade could never be fully implemented. Trading simply continued as Britain exported to Europe through Portugal, along the Baltic coast. This once again showed the significance of having a strong navy in terms of maintaining trade and therefore being able to keep the armies and navy fighting against Napoleon.
Napoleon can be looked at and how he contributed to his own defeat. Napoleon was obviously a supreme commander who on the battlefield outshone most of his opponents. Although he had a superb army and easily one most of his battles, not everything was perfect for Napoleon. For a start he didn’t possess adequate naval power as we have clearly seen. This meant that Napoloen’s Continental System had many loopholes and the system became a far greater burden to the countries under Napoleon’s control than to Britain. There was also Napoleon’s disastrous Moscow campaign of 1812, where Russia evacuated Moscow leaving only a few soldiers which set fire to Moscow leaving Napoleon and his huge army standing on the outside of the city. Napoleon waited for Russia to concede but they didn’t and so stayed there until the Russian winter hit them and forced them to retreat. This was a great example of how Napoleon contributed to his own defeat. His poor planning and false assumption that Russia would concede cost him 400,000 soldiers, half of whom died during the retreat, which for some reason Napoleon did not take into account. This Moscow campaign led to Alexander’s refusal to continue his support of the Continental System. After 1807 Napoleon’s judgement declined; for example he believed that Moscow was the heart of Russia and to capture it would lead to the defeat of Russia. In November 1813 Wellington and his army forced his way through the French boarder and successfully attacked Bayonne. In Holland there was a revolt which saw expulsions of French imperial troops and officers. These two events put Napoleon in real danger of loosing everything and was in rapid retreat. Austria offered Napoleon a peace deal that would retain it’s boarders of 1796. Napoleon refused this and continued fighting. This was the wrong decision as Allied forced began invading France in December 1813. This is another example of how Napoleon contributed to his own defeat.
Napoleon also seemed arrogant as he had a very poor opinion of Wellington as a soldier up to the final battle of his rule, Waterloo. This is true on a number of other occasions were Napoleon underestimated his opponents and at times ignored the advice given to him by his generals. His personal greatness and success on the battlefield may have led to his eventual defeat at Waterloo.
When looking at significant factors for the defeat of Napoloen one cannot overlook the importance of the support of the great military powers of Europe. This was essential since Britain, with a population less than half that of France, lacked the manpower resources to clear the French out of Holland and Belgium. European help was also needed if Britain was to do what had never been done before – to crush France’s resistance entirely and overthrow her government. She also needed European assistance to prevent France from renewing their maritime resources by plundering or dominating their maritime neighbours. Also since the French opponents of the Revolution were to weak to succeed on their own or with British backing alone, European help was needed if Britain was to do what had never been done before – to crush France’s resistance entirely and overthrow her government. The coalitions were a significant reason for the defeat of Napoleon and the end of the wars. The coalition forces included:- Russia, Prussia, Great Britain, Sweden, Austria, Spain, Portugal and the German states. Although not all of the seven coalitions were a success they were all well financed and eventually weakened Napoleon enough to enable the seventh coalition which defeated him at Waterloo.
